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Also keep in mind for #2 that your distance to subject can be a problem.Actually we don't mind that, in the right context its fine so long as you're clearly not trying to steal members from the site. Otherwise its just information; heck I've directed people toward other forums when I've felt that their question/problem/needs could be better dealt with by a different community with a different focus/membership.
Also Google results are never always the same for each individual person; your search history and preference settings can change the results so the "first result" might well not be the same for everyone.
Macro lighting can be very cheap or very expensive depending on your needs and budget so here's a few thoughts;
1) Ring Flash - ringflashes are not a bad choice. They sit on the front of the lens and give you a nice even light from the front; good ones can vary the power of the left and right side so that you can introduce some shadowing so that the light isn't totally flat.
The main problems are that you can't diffuse the light very well/easily - remember that diffusion of light is done by making the light source bigger; with a ringflash you've not really got much room to work with before you're hitting the subject or obscuring the lens. So you've not got much room to modify this light source.
That brings us to the second aspect; its on the front of the lens so its stealing some of your working distance bonus; that of lowering the chances of spooking the subject.
Finally they are a very niche light source. You find that they are used for macro and nothing much else (there are ring-flashes for portraiture but they are a totally different type of flash and size altogether). So they are a good choice, but not always the best in all aspects.
2) BrentC's design of flash is your common approach used by many. It makes use of a speedlite unit (standard and thus can be used for almost any typo of photography) which can be from a huge variety from own-brand through to 3rd party.
You've got a softbox on the front that gives you your diffusion (thus softer light - less harsh shadows); and its all of a size that's practical for most macro work.
Lumiquest make a range of smaller softboxes or you can make your own or use a range of other manufacturer choices on the market.